


Aureole

by Hedgi



Series: Apastron [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort, Gen, Implied Medical Experimentation, the pain train has applied breaks but is not yet stopped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 03:19:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10733061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hedgi/pseuds/Hedgi
Summary: Aureole: Noun.A Corona, Any luminous or colored ring that encircles something.The terror of her prior captivity doesn't vanish simply because Kara has been rescued. In the Danvers house, Kara worries about what comes next, and when the other shoe might drop. Eliza and Alex do everything they can to make her feel safe.





	Aureole

 

Kara had been nervous when Alex had taken her hand again and guided her to a stairway--up, not down, which was good--and to  a room. It wasn’t small and dark and cold like her cell had been. There was a window that let in warm, yellow sunlight, and a big bed that reminded her of her bed back home. Home. 

Home was gone. Her mother, her father. Kal-El, too, she thought. He wouldn’t have had her to look after him. What if the bad people had taken him, too? Maybe her rescuers would help her save her baby cousin, if he was even still alive. She couldn’t ask yet. Only the older woman, Eliza, seemed to understand  Kryptonian--and how had she learned it? Who had taught her?--and Kara’s Human was not very good. She’d picked up some words, but the order was all wrong, and she couldn’t make sense of it all. Not yet. She’d always been good at languages, but it was easier when people were trying to help you learn. Not talking too fast over you like you were furniture, just an object, just an experiment--Kara squeezed her eyes closed against the flash of white and the memory and tried to focus on soft rug under her feet, the sounds around her. 

Alex, who seemed to be a little older than her, chattered,  showing her the drawers full of bright, soft clothes, and the books on the little table, and the washroom across the hall. The tile reminded Kara sharply of one of the rooms she had been Before, but instead of being too bright-white the floor tiles had a cheerful nonsense pattern. The room smelled of clean, soapy and flowery smells and a hint of mold, not harsh bleach and metal. Alex had gently patted her shoulder, worried, and told Kara to rest, using hand signals as much as language.

Kara had waited for the door to lock, after Alex left, but it never did. The window was open, too, with no bars across it, just a fine mesh. She could hear the cry of birds, and another noise, rhythmic, like the roar of blood in her ears. She didn’t know what it was, and couldn’t see, even with her face pressed against the mesh at the window. It had always been so cold, underground, and the hot sun felt good on her face, even if it hurt her eyes.

She pressed too hard, and squeaked as the mesh snapped, the frame bending. Leaping backwards, she crashed into the bed, moving too far, too fast. It was like her mother had said. The sunlight here was different. A small whimper escaped the back of her throat. She had broken it, she had broken it and they would be so mad. Would they be mad enough they’d give her back to the Bad People and the dark room with the red light? She hoped not. She’d run, first. She’d never, ever go back There. She didn’t know how to survive on her own here, but--she’d figure it out. Her father had always said she could figure anything out. They’d expected her to be ok, when they sent her. So she’d figure it out. 

 

“Kara?” the woman’s voice startled her. No one had said her name in so  _ long.  _ Kara focused hard, trying to understand what Eliza said, coming closer. “Are you alright? What--oh, the window.” She left the doorway, approaching the side of the bed where Kara had landed, and reached out. Kara threw her arms up to protect herself and braced. No blow ever came. There was a feather light touch on her shoulder, and when she peeked, Eliza was crouched beside her. 

“It’s alright, Kara,” she said, first in English then in clumsy Kryptonian. “I won’t ever hurt you.” 

Kara wanted so badly to believe that. 

“It’s ok, about the window.” Eliza continued, or Kara was pretty sure that was what she said. She stayed perfectly still, almost too scared to breathe. Eliza stayed where she was, not too close, still speaking soothingly. “It’s ok.” 

They stayed there, on the floor, for a long time. Kara wasn’t sure how long, exactly. She hadn’t been good at judging time since Before. Before the Phantom Zone, and the dark room. But outside, the golden-yellow sun swung around and sank lower and lower in the direction of the rushing-roaring noise Kara still couldn’t quite identify. She rubbed at her ears, all the sounds hurt, and her head ached. 

“Oh,” Eliza said. “Hurt? Your ears? The noise? Clark said…”

“Yes,” Kara responded, trying to get up the courage to ask how she had known. “You know how? Clark is who?” she flushed. She knew that wasn’t right, the words were supposed to be backwards in this language. Eliza seemed to understand.

“Clark is like you,” she said, gesturing. “From Krypton.”

The name of Kara’s planet rang in her abused ears, and she couldn’t help but perk up at the sound. The Bad People had known it, too, but they had not spoken her language, even badly. And none of them had claimed to know anyone from--none of them had ever even spoken to her--

“Like me?” she whispered, clenching her hands tightly. Clark? Clark wasn’t a name she knew, not that she knew everyone, but...it wasn’t the name of any ambassadors, and only a few had been away at the time of the disaster. There had only been two pods. Hers, and--”Kal El?” she asked, confused. He might have been--five? Six? Certainly not much older than that.

“Yes,” Eliza brightened. “He’s coming tomorrow.” 

Kara frowned. She stood, putting too much weight on the bedframe and cracking it. She gave a little cry, scrambling backwards, but Eliza didn’t move to hit her, or even yell.

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” Eliza sat on the bed, testing it. “See? All fine. Clark--Kal El, had...problems with his powers, too. He can help you. We can help you.”

Kara couldn’t help it. She started to cry, scared and tired, with her ears hurting and so much changing. She wanted her mother, and her father, and baby Kal-El, and her aunts, she wanted to go home.

Soft arms wrapped around her, pulling her to sit on the bed, holding her head so her ear was over a heartbeat. The last time anyone had hugged her had been her mother. In the bad place, when she’d cried, no one had ever done anything, except maybe yell.  “There, there,” Eliza said, holding her gently. “It’s alright. It’s alright. It’s ok, you can cry. It’s ok.”

Kara leaned into the hug, the warmth and safety of it almost as good as the sunshine was, spreading through the window. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. Eliza was quiet as well, and they sat together, watching the sunlight shift over the bedroom floor.

Someone knocked on the door, but it did not startle Kara, she had heard the footsteps, and she could smell the food the visitor carried--or she hoped it was food. It smelled so good, and totally unfamiliar. Alex opened the door. 

“Everyone ok?” she asked. It took a moment before Kara realized she was asking her. She nodded. 

Alex beamed at Kara, and at her mother, and moved to join them on the bed, carrying a large wood tray with plates balanced on it.

Eliza stopped her. “I’m not sure the bed can handle all three of us.” She pointed to the crack, sliding off the bed and sitting on the floor. After a moment, Kara joined her, and Alex completed the circle.

“We didn’t have much,” Alex said as she set the tray in the middle. “Just some frozen stuff. Do you like pizza? Or potstickers?”

Kara looked at Alex, titling her head a little. “What are..those food things?” she said at last, proud of herself for finding words she knew.  
  
“Try them both,” Alex grinned. Kara rubbed her face on the soft blanket on the bed, and grinned back,  then reached for the plate of little dumplings. 


End file.
